Explorative Learning Conference Theme - Physics Department ...

Proocedings Proocedings of
of
I. I. International International Dynamic, Dynamic,
Dynamic,
Explorative Explorative and
and
Active Active Learning Learning Learning Conference
Conference
Conference
Editors Editors
Editors
Assist. Assist. Prof. Prof. Dr. Dr. Zekeriya KARADA KARADAG
KARADA
Assist. Assist. Prof. Prof. Dr. Dr. Yasemin Yasemin DEVECIOGLU
DEVECIOGLU-KAYMAKCI
DEVECIOGLU KAYMAKCI
July 2-5, 2012
Bayburt, Turkey

IDEAL IDEAL Conference
Conference
Conference Conference Theme: Theme: Explorative Explorative Learning
Learning
Hosted by
Bayburt University, 2012

INDEX
IDEAL Technologies for Mathematics Learning: Opportunities and Challenges ................................. 1
John Olive
Seeking Mathematical Understanding Through DynAmic Modeling and Explorative Learning ........ 22
Lingguo BU
Learning in the Networked Society ...................................................................................................... 23
Piet KOMMERS
Visual information and epistemic objects in scientific practices: The missing link and the role of new
technologies in meeting the learning challenge .................................................................................... 24
Sibel ERDURAN
The Examinatıon of The Gifted Students’ Mathematical Thinking Skills in Computer-Assisted
Environment ......................................................................................................................................... 25
Adnan Baki, Avni Yıldız, Serdal Baltacı
Heating Up The Discussion: Promoting And Investigating Argumentation In The Context Of
Chemistry Stories ................................................................................................................................. 43
Aybüke PABUCCU, Sibel ERDURAN, Jon JAMES
The Net Generation Learning Science: Anywhere & Anytime ............................................................ 59
Ayşe Gül ÖZBĐLEN, Osman GÜLNAZ
Dıssectıng Scıence In Medıa: Analysıng Interactıons In A Postgraduate Course ................................ 63
Canan BLAKE, Eileen SCANLON
Learner Centerıng Desıgn Concept In E-Learnıng ............................................................................... 72
Erhan AKYAZI, Hülya SOYDAŞ ÇAKIR
The Opinions of The Students Of Vocational Hıgh School Related To Computer-Aided Learning
Environment Which is Created By Using Derive Software On Limit-Continuity Subject .................. 83
Elif ERTEM, Gül KALELĐ YILMAZ, Adnan BAKĐ, Nuri Can AKSOY

The Effect Of Computer- Asisted Materials Designed For Prizm Subject On Pre-Service Primary
School Teachers’ Achievement .......................................................................................................... 100
Gül KALELI-YILMAZ, Nuri Can AKSOY, Bülent GÜVEN, Elif ERTEM
Approaches To Teachıng Of Prerequisite Mathematics Concept via Computer Algebra System’s In
Mathematical Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 115
Güler TULUK
Student Teachers’ Views on Using BIT ............................................................................................. 123
Hakan Şevki AYVACI, Yasemin DEVECĐOĞLU
Educational Climate in Lessons of Mathematics Presented in a Foreign Language in Dynamic and
Interactive Environment ..................................................................................................................... 131
Helena Binterová
A Journey Of Socialization Process In Socio-Virtualization Context ................................................ 149
Đbrahim KURT, Aziz YILDIRIM
Digital Games in Science Education: Developing Students’ 21 st Century Learning Skills ............... 159
Isha DeCoito, Maurice DiGiuseppe
The Planck Visualization Project:
Immersive and Interactive Software for Astronomy and Cosmology Education ............................... 173
Jatila van der Veen, Ryan McGee, John Moreland
vBlocks: An Đpad App Used To Teach Patterns And Combinatorics In Early Childhood Education 189
Kevin R. MERGES, Anoop AHLUWALIA
Introducing the intTT Project and Evaluating the Master CD of the intTT Project ........................... 203
Nevzat YĐĞĐT, Nedim ALEV
Preservice Teachers’ Opinions Regarding Use Of Excel In Mathematics Teaching ......................... 213
Nejla ÇALIK, Nuri Can AKSOY, Cengiz ÇĐNAR
Use Of Information Technologies In The Education Of Individuals With Special Needs ................ 229
Özlem ASLAN BAĞCI, Hakkı BAĞCI

The Dynamic Process Of Learning: The Influence Of Intellectual Social Teaching Environment,
Previous Achievement, And Pedagogic Content Knowledge On Solving Scientific Problems ......... 234
Safa A. Zaid-ELKILANI, Husein F. RAMZOUN
Exploring Elementary Mathematics Pre-Service Teachers' Perception To Use Multiple
Representations In Problem Solving .................................................................................................. 241
Ozdemir, Ş., Ayvaz Reis Z., Karadağ, Z.
Sınıf Öğretmeni Adaylarının Öğrenme Nesnesi Kullanımına Đlişkin Görüşleri: Sosyal Bilgiler Dersi
ÖrneğĐ ................................................................................................................................................. 282
Seher YARAR KAPTAN, Sema YARAR
Effect Of Geogebra Software On Seventh Grade Students’ Success Of Transformation Geometry . 292
Ümit Emre OÇAK, Bülent GÜVEN, Gül KALELĐ-YILMAZ
Breaking Barriers and Borders: Impetus for an International Virtual Science Fair Pilot Program .... 303
Whitney C. ELMORE, Gabriela JONAS-AHREND
Computer-Assisted Applications In Geometry Teaching: Examples For Usage Of Dynamic Geometry
Software Cabri .................................................................................................................................... 316
Yasemin DEVECĐOĞLU, Gül KALELĐ-YILMAZ, Bahadır YILMAZ, Özge ERDEM, Murat
ABDĐOĞLU, Recayi KAYMAKCI
The Effect Of Peer Instruction Method In Teaching Physics Concepts To The 6th Grade Science And
Technology Course On Students’ Achievement Cabri ....................................................................... 327
Özgür Yeşiloğlu Önder Şimşek
Teaching Presence in a Virtual Language Learning Environment ..................................................... 331
Mahbubeh Taghizade FahimehTajabadi
Sınıf Öğretmeni Adaylarının Bilgisayar Destekli Eğitim Yapmaya Đlişkin Tutumlarının Đncelenmesi
(Bayburt Üniversitesi Örneği) ............................................................................................................ 343
Ceren Çevik, Betül Küçük, Hülya Kodan, Tuğba Aydın

The Planck Visualization Project:
Immersive and Interactive Software for Astronomy and Cosmology Education
Jatila van der Veen*, University of California Santa Barbara
Ryan McGee, University of California Santa Barbara
John Moreland, Purdue University Calumet
* Corresponding Author
We describe two simulations for teaching astronomy and cosmology which we have developed as part of the
education and public outreach program of the international Planck Mission. The first is an interactive, Virtual
Reality simulation of the Planck Mission, which supports learning of basic concepts in Solar System astronomy.
The second is an interactive visualization and sonification of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the oldest
radiation of the universe, which supports learning of basic concepts in contemporary cosmology. The
simulations, as well as our accompanying curricula and publications, are available on our website:
http://planck.caltech.edu.
Keywords: Virtual Reality for Science Education, Dynamic and Interactive Science Learning Environments,
Explorative Learning; Visual Learning
Planck Görselleştirme Projesi:
Astronomi ve Kozmoloji Eğitimi Đçin Üç Boyutlu ve Etkileşimli Yazılım
Bu çalışmada, The International Planck Mission Programı kapsamındaki eğitim ve sosyal yardım programının
bir parçası olarak astronomi ve kozmoloji öğretimine yönelik geliştirdiğimiz iki simülasyonu tanıtmaktayız.
Bunlardan birincisi, Güneş Sistemi astronomisi temel kavramlarının öğrenilmesini destekleyen Planck Mission
etkileşimli Sanal Gerçeklik simülasyonu. Đkincisi ise, çağdaş kozmolojinin temel kavramlarının öğrenilmesini
destekleyen, Evrenin en eski ışıması Kozmik Mikrodalga Arkaplanının etkileşimli canlandırılması ve
seslendirmesi. Bu simülasyonlar, bunlara ait eğitim programları ve yayınlar, web sitemizde mevcuttur:
http://planck.caltech.edu.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Fen Eğitimi için Sanal Gerçeklik; Dinamik ve Đnteraktif Fen Öğrenme Ortamları,
Açınsayarak Öğrenme, Görsel Öğrenme.
Introduction:
It is estimated that each year more than 250,000 undergraduates take introductory astronomy
in the United States and Canada (Partridge & Greenstein, 2004), yet in spite of the popularity
of college astronomy courses, surveys suggest that a large segment of the American public
has a rather limited understanding of the Earth’s place in space (Fraknoi, 1998; 2004).
Numerous studies suggest that many college students hold misconceptions about the Solar
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System and the Earth’s place within the cosmos (Shapiro, Whitney, Sadler, & Schneps, 1987;
Barnett, Keating, Barab, & Hay, 2000; Bakas & Mikropoulos, 2003), including the notion that
the Sun goes around the Earth (Yair, Mintz, & Litvak, 2001), and other “folk concepts”
(Zeilik, Schau, & Mattern, 1998). Such naïve viewpoints may not be corrected by traditional
lecture-based instruction, in which students are passive recipients of knowledge (Wallace,
Prather, & Duncan, 2012). Cosmology is one of the most popular topics in introductory
college astronomy, yet also one of the most difficult to convey (Wallace, Prather, & Duncan,
2011). Concepts such as the Big Bang, expansion and evolution of the universe, evidence for
dark matter, and the idea that the actual universe extends more than three times farther than
the observable universe are problematic for students to grasp (Wallace et al., 2012; Davis &
Lineweaver, 2004).
In this paper we discuss previous studies that have demonstrated how the use of virtual
environments and game-like simulations have improved students’ conceptual reasoning in
introductory astronomy. We then discuss two new simulations that we have developed for
undergraduate astronomy and cosmology, and suggest teaching strategies for incorporating
our simulations into the teaching and learning of introductory astronomy and cosmology.
Interactive Simulations and Virtual Immersive Environments in Astronomy Education
The U.S. National Research Council recommends computer simulations in science education
because they
… enable learners to see and interact with representations of natural
phenomena that would otherwise be impossible to observe—a process that
helps them to formulate scientifically correct explanations for these
phenomena.
(National Research Council Report, 2011)
Indeed, within the last decade a number of studies using interactive simulations and virtual
immersive environments in introductory astronomy report improvement in students’
understanding of basic concepts over traditional lecture-based methods (Yu, Sahami, & Denn,
2010; Gazit, Yair, & Chen, 2005; Bakas & Mikropoulos, 2003; Yair, Mintz, & Litvak, 2001;
Barnett, Keating, Barab, & Hay, 2000). Savage, McGrath, McIntyre, & Wegener (2010)
obtained substantial gains in first-year physics students’ conceptual understanding of Special
Relativity when they combined virtual reality simulations with traditional instructional
methods. These authors emphasize that it is the immersive, interactive, first-person, and
game-like nature of such simulations that has the potential to facilitate students’ discovery
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learning. Barab and Dede (2007) cite several studies which illustrate how game-like virtual
learning experiences provide a strong sense of engagement with science content for all
learners. Other studies suggest that a combination of learning in virtual environments and real
world experiences may provide the optimal pedagogical strategy in science education (Winn
et al., 2006).
We present two new simulations for astronomy and cosmology education. Originally
developed as outreach tools in support of the international Planck Mission, these simulations
directly support learning goals for introductory college astronomy (as suggested by Partridge
& Greenstein, 2004, e.g.) and basic cosmology (as suggested by Wallace, et al., 2012, e.g.).
Our Planck Mission in Virtual Reality (PMVR) simulation runs in a virtual solar system, and
offers a non-competitive game-like, immersive experience in which the user can interact with
the satellite as it leaves the Earth, arrives at its orbital location around the second Lagrange
Point (L2), and scans the sky. The user can explore the solar system, navigate or use hot keys
to jump from planet to planet, while the satellite ‘paints’ the image of the Cosmic Microwave
Background on the sky. Time in the simulation begins on May 14 th , 2009 with the launch of
Planck from French Guiana. Even after the mission ends, the user can fast-forward time to
observe alignments of the planets into the future.
Our Visualization and Sonification of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), or Sounds
of the CMB, utilizes the technique of sonification to explore hypothetical universes derived
from different cosmological models in sound space. This simulation supports learning
objectives in cosmology, the origin of the universe, and the origin and meaning of the CMB.
In addition, it can appeal to art and music students because it utilizes the physics of music to
teach about the physics of the early universe. In the next section we present a brief overview
of the CMB and the Planck Mission, followed by a brief discussion of each simulation. The
technical details and theoretical background of our simulations are described in Moreland,
Dekker, & van der Veen. (2011), McGee, van der Veen, Wright, Kuchera-Morin, Alper, &
Lubin (2011), and van der Veen (2010).
About the Cosmic Microwave Background and the Planck Mission
Formation of the CMB. According to our current understanding, the universe began some
13.7 billion years ago in an unimaginably hot, dense, compact state, from which it suddenly
expanded after an unknown period of dormancy. As the universe expanded and cooled, it
became a fluid of tightly coupled matter and radiation. Dark matter, which does not interact
electromagnetically, condensed first, driving oscillations which then propagated through the
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expanding universe as extremely long wavelength sound waves in the matter-radiation fluid.
At approximately 380,000 years after the so-called Big Bang, the universe became cool
enough for matter and radiation to decouple, and light could travel freely for the first time.
The pattern of those primordial sound waves was imprinted in the light that last scattered off
their surface as red and blue shifts, seen today as microKelvin fluctuations in the CMB (Fig.
1a). The power spectrum of the CMB (Fig. 1b) encodes the physical parameters of the
universe such as the relative proportions of normal matter, dark matter and dark energy,
ionization history, expansion rate and possible primordial anisotropy. Thus it has been a
major goal of experimental cosmology over the past two decades to derive the power
spectrum of the CMB fluctuations from increasingly high-precision maps (Efstathiou, et al.,
2005).
About the Planck Mission. Planck is an international mission, led by the European Space
Agency with significant contribution by NASA, designed to improve our understanding of the
origin and evolution of the universe. Launched on May 14, 2009, Planck has been mapping
the microwave sky in nine frequency channels (30 to 857 GHz), with a temperature sensitivity
of a few microKelvin, and spatial resolution as fine as 5 arc minutes. The main scientific
objective of Planck is to measure the spatial anisotropy of the CMB with an accuracy set by
fundamental astrophysical limits. Planck will extract essentially all the information contained
in the CMB and its power spectrum, with which to constrain models of how the universe
originated and evolved (Efstathiou et al., 2005 and http://sci.esa.int/science-
e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=17 ). Planck is considered a decadal or legacy mission, and is
the third satellite (after CoBE and WMAP) to map the entire sky in microwave frequencies.
Figure 1. 1a (left): Map of the microKelvin fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB), WMAP Satellite. 1b (right): Power spectrum of the CMB, WMAP
Satellite, 7-year data release.
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The Planck Mission in Virtual Reality
The Planck Mission in Virtual Reality (PMVR) is designed for use in a variety of
environments, from a multi-user virtual immersive space in which the instructor ‘drives,’ and
the students wear special glasses which create the 3D effect, to a single-user virtual world
available on a PC, in 2D or 3D modes, in which the individual user is the driver. The PMVR
embodies the three key features of a successful VR environment of autonomy, presence, and
interaction described by Zeltzer (1992).
There are two scenes from which to choose: Planck in Space, and Planck Instruments (Fig.
2). Planck in Space is especially useful for teaching basic Solar System astronomy, in addition
to illustrating the trajectory and orbit of the Planck satellite. In the current version of the
software, the user can change the background from a composite image of the Milky Way to a
view of the constellations. With the orbits toggled on, the background includes the Celestial
Equator and the Ecliptic. The Earth’s orbit is colored red, so as to provide a constant
reference point. Students can see how the planets’ orbits lie on the Ecliptic, while the Moon’s
orbit is tilted relative to the Ecliptic (useful for explaining why a lunar eclipse does not occur
every month), and how the Celestial Equator, Ecliptic, and plane of the galaxy are inclined
relative to each other. With a little practice, students can learn to fly through the Solar System
and search for each planet by following the path of its orbit. The small sizes of objects in the
Solar System relative to their distances very quickly become apparent!
The Instruments scene allows the user to virtually fly inside the satellite and explore it. There
are twelve hot zones where information about the satellite appears, presenting a game-like
Figure 2. Left: Initial screen, Planck in Space. Right: Planck Instruments screen.
challenge to the student to find them all. ‘Flying’ on a PC is accomplished by a combination
of arrow keys and mouse strokes, while in a 3D theater the simulation works with a 6-df
wand. A user can explore the inside of the satellite, such as flying into one of the feed horns
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which collect microwaves of a particular frequency, and flying along the waveguides,
approximating the path a photon would take down to the detectors (Fig. 3). Before running
the simulation, the instructor can edit the configuration file so as to select the features s/he
wishes to be available to the students.
Figure 3. 3a (left): Close-up of Planck’s instrument panel. 3b (right): ‘Flying’ inside one
of th 44-GHz feedhorns.
Sounds of the CMB: Visualization and Sonification of the Cosmic Microwave
Background
Our Sounds of the CMB is designed to help students develop an understanding of the main
science goal of the Planck Mission: to extract essentially all the information contained in the
CMB temperature anisotropies, with which to constrain models of the universe (Efstatiou, et
al. 2005). The simulation consists of two parts: visualization and sonification, which can be
run together or separately. The visualization consists of the map of simulated temperature
anomalies of the CMB and their angular power spectrum, which have been computed using
the public domain Code for Anisotropies in the Microwave Background (CAMB) - the same
modeling software used by the international cosmology community (Lewis, Challinor, &
Lasenby, 2000). The current reference model is based on the WMAP 2009 published values;
however, as soon as the new Planck CMB data are released, we will replace the WMAP
reference model with the new Planck values.
The graphic interface has two sliders which allow the user to choose between model universes
with different proportions of normal (baryonic) matter, dark matter, and dark energy (Fig. 4).
Both the map and the power spectrum change in response to the changing model parameters,
as does the sound. A third slider allows the user to adjust the color-temperature mapping
scheme, shown on the temperature bar at the top of the screen (Fig. 4). Other features of the
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visualization include zooming in and out, rotating the sphere in any direction, or rotating the
user’s viewpoint horizontally or vertically.
Figure 4. Visualization and sonification of the CMB. Shown here is an unphysical
model with the correct proportion of dark matter (70%), but 5 times too much baryonic
matter and less than half as much dark matter as has been assumed from previous CMB
measurements.
Each model universe produces a different sound, with different harmonic content (Fig. 4,
lower right insert). The user can vary the peak width to change the timbre of the sound, as
well as total band width to listen to individual harmonics, thus effectively exploring the
features of the CMB power spectrum in sound space. It is interesting to note that small
changes in the density parameters of the universe produce clearly audible changes in the
sound, while the corresponding features in the visual map are much less apparent.
Pedagogical applications of the Planck Mission Simulation in Virtual Reality
The PMVR supports learning objectives for introductory astronomy (Partridge & Greenstein,
2003, e.g.). Because of its ‘back story’ of an actual satellite which is orbiting the second
Lagrange point in the Earth-Sun system, the PMVR provides a real-world example with
which to discuss launching space probes, gravitational fields, and why different orbits are
chosen for different missions. The immersive nature of the simulation provides an opportunity
to help students develop their cognitive spatial reasoning, while the dynamic nature of the
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simulation gives a ‘gut-level’ understanding that the Earth and all the planets are in constant
relative motion.
Kepler’s Laws. It is fairly straight forward to demonstrate shapes of planetary orbits using the
PMVR by navigating above the plane of the orbits and then turning around and looking down,
as shown in Figure 5, for example. A popular misconception among students is that, because
Kepler’s Laws state that the planets orbit the Sun in elliptical orbits, the orbits are highly
elliptical, as often portrayed in text books. It is quite apparent in the simulation that the orbits
are only slightly elliptical, with Mercury’s orbit having the greatest ellipticity.
Figure 5. View from ‘above’ showing the orbits of Mercury, Venus,
Earth (colored red), and Mars; Jupiter’s orbit is barely visible, cutting
across the upper corners in the image.
Supporting observations. It is also possible to demonstrate the reasons for certain terrestrial
observations by being in the immersive environment of the virtual Solar System and
observing from different perspectives which are not possible on Earth. For example: The
question of why the Moon always keeps the same face towards the Earth can be answered in
the virtual environment by following the Moon around its orbit from a perspective fixed on
the Earth (Fig. 6), and then ‘flying’ above the plane of the Moon’s orbit and following it on its
path around the Earth from an external perspective (Fig. 7).
An instructor can use the immersive environment to explain why we see the various planets in
different directions, looking toward or away from the Sun. For example, this winter (2012)
there has been a spectacular view of the planets Venus and Jupiter in the Northern
Hemisphere as they approached each other and then appeared to trade places. By fast-
forwarding the simulation to the desired date, the instructor can demonstrate how it is possible
to see Venus, an inferior planet, and Jupiter, a superior planet, in the same direction of the sky
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(looking toward the Sun just after sunset), and illustrate why these two planets appeared to
change places from our perspective. An example of this alignment is shown in Figure 8 for
the evening of March 2, 2012, for the actual sky (8a) and the simulation, (8b).
Figure 6. View of the Moon, from inside its orbit. The Earth is ‘behind’ the camera.
From this perspective the user can follow the Moon as it orbits the Earth, always keeping
the same face to the ‘camera.’
Figure 7. View from outside the Moon’s orbit. Object scale is 25x. Mars is visible in
the background on the left, and Planck is seen heading for L2, beyond the Moon to the
right.
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An ideal implementation of the PMVR would be for an instructor to first take the class as a
whole on a guided virtual tour of the solar system and investigation of the Planck satellite in
an immersive 3D environment, and then assign students to work through independent
explorations in either 3D or 2D mode on a PC. Many campuses now have virtual immersive
spaces or 3D theater capability, but even without such technology, a 3D experience can be
achieved inexpensively by projecting the simulation onto a screen using the anaglyph mode,
and giving students red-cyan glasses, which can be purchased in bulk for around 10 cents
each.
Figure 8. 8a, Left: View from Ireland of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter in the evening
sky, March 2, 2012. (Image credit: Mary Bulman, Armagh Planetarium. Used with
permission from http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/wonders-of-the-march-night-sky.htm,
retrieved 22-04-2012.
8b, Right: View from above the ecliptic within the PMVR for the same date, showing
alignments of Earth, Venus, and Mercury. Object scale set to 40x; planets were enhanced with
Photoshop for the purposes of this image, but actually appear much smaller in the simulation.
Jupiter is off the screen, in the direction of the arrow, but would be visible if projected in an
immersive VR environment.
In addition to a virtual Solar System, the PMVR contains the actual trajectory of the Planck
Satellite, from its launch site in French Guiana to its insertion into a Lissajous orbit around
the second Lagrange point (L2) in the Earth-Sun system, and two years of orbital data. One
can clearly observe Planck executing its orbit, approximately perpendicular to the ecliptic,
especially if one speeds up time in the simulation. Figure 9 is a snapshot taken in the
simulation on August 9, 2009, when Planck had just reached its orbit around L2. The idea
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that a satellite can orbit about an empty location in space is not intuitive, as most students
imagine satellites to orbit the Earth or other body in the Solar System, yet Lagrangian orbits
have been used for more than a decade (WMAP was placed in an L2 orbit in 2000; the
Herschel Infrared Telescope was launched into an L2 orbit with Planck, and the James Webb
Space Telescope is planned for launch in 2014 also in an L2 orbit.) Thus, this feature is useful
for explaining something about the actual data collection process that lies behind the
published maps and images.
Assessment. The PMVR also has the capability of recording movies. With a little practice,
students can record their own explorations and demonstrations, including their own
narrations. Instructors can use this feature to design both formative and summative
assessments of students’ understanding. Partridge and Greenstein (2003) report that there is a
“a crying need [in astronomy education] for tests and other assessment methods that get at
deep understanding, not quickly learned and quickly forgotten facts” (p. 12). Having students
record movies using the PMVR offers an alternative form of assessment that instructors can
use to probe students’ deep understanding.
Figure 9. Planck entering its Lissajous orbit around L2. Earth-Moon distance is
approximately 350,000 km; Earth-L2 distance is approximately 1.5 million km; radius of
Planck’s orbit around L2 is approximately 400,000 km, approximately perpendicular to
the ecliptic.
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We suggest that the Planck Mission Simulation, when combined with night-time
observations, provides a powerful means of giving students a real sense of our place in space
by connecting observations in the virtual world with observations in the real world. We will
begin testing the simulation with introductory astronomy students in the Center for Innovation
through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS) at Purdue University Calumet
(http://webs.purduecal.edu/civs/) and with test subjects in the Research Center for Virtual
Environments and Behavior (RecVeb) at the University of California Santa Barbara
(http://www.recveb.ucsb.edu/) during 2012-2013. Results will be reported in a forthcoming
paper.
Pedagogical applications of the Sounds of the CMB
Cosmology is a popular topic in introductory astronomy courses, yet also one of the most
challenging. Students enrolled in introductory astronomy arrive with pre-existing naive ideas
about the nature of the Big Bang and expansion of the universe which are not easily corrected,
unless instructors take into account students’ prior knowledge (Wallace, Prather, & Duncan,
2012, p.1). Our Sounds of the CMB simulation and accompanying curricula build upon
students’ presumed familiarity with sound and pitch to guide them to an intuitive
understanding of how we derive the physical properties of the universe from the spatial
variations in the oldest light we can observe.
The notion of the “sounds of the universe” has a great deal of popular appeal from both the
artistic and ‘mystical’ perspectives, yet it is also a valid scientific model. For the first 380,000
years of its life, the universe was comprised of a tightly-coupled plasma of charged particles
and photons through which acoustic waves were propagating. Soon after the 3 0 background
radiation was discovered by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson in 1965, the anisotropy due to
primordial acoustic waves was predicted. The fact that this predicted anisotropy has been
measured with increasing precision by the CoBE, WMAP, and now Planck missions, as well
as a host of balloon-born observations, is one of the most important and successful unions of
theory and experiment in contemporary physics, for which two Nobel Prizes have been
awarded. 1
1 In 1978 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson received the Nobel Prize for their discovery of the CMB, and in 2006
George Smoot and John Mather received the Nobel Prize for their discovery of the anisotropy of the CMB using
the Cosmic Background Explorer (CoBE) satellite.
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The Education and Public Outreach group of the Planck Mission in the US has developed a
series of curricular materials that support the teaching of cosmology for introductory
astronomy, and provide the necessary background for understanding the Sounds of the CMB
simulation. Preliminary results of simply giving the simulation to an instructor to use with an
introductory class have indicated that without offering the Sounds of the CMB simulation
within a correct pedagogical framework, there is the potential for instructors who do not
understand it to lead students to an incorrect mental model. We therefore offer the simulation
along with cosmology curricula and modeling exercises written by US Planck team members
on our website (http://planck.caltech.edu/epo), and are planning a series of workshops for
college instructors for the summer of 2013.
The simulation itself can be used in as a demonstration tool by the instructor, or as an
exploration for students to compare the sounds of the universe as we currently understand it
with hypothetical universes with different ratios of baryons, dark matter, and dark energy.
One feature that is dramatically apparent through the sonification is that, for any fraction of
dark energy that is selected, increasing the ratio of baryons to dark matter dramatically
increases both the pitch and the volume of the fundamental. This is due to the tighter coupling
of matter to radiation when the baryon fraction is increased. Why this should be so provides
an interesting exploration, and opportunity to model sound propagation with fluids of
different densities and mass-spring systems. We provide a database of 45 model universes (15
each of flat, open, and closed models), in which we vary the proportions of baryons, dark
matter, and dark energy.
In addition to using the models we provide, students can create their own model universes
using interactive software available from NASA, at the CAMB web interface,
lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/toolbox/tb_camb_form.cfm. For more advanced students we would
encourage instructors to have students create their own model universes in which they vary
some of the other cosmological parameters (such as the Hubble Constant, helium fraction, and
reionization time) and compare the sounds of such models with the current best estimates.
Our sonification software can be used independently of the CMB visualization, and thus
presents an intriguing means of finding harmonic content in any time series or ordered data
set. For example: if a class is observing variable stars, after deriving their light curves
photometrically, students could input their light curves as a two-column data array (amplitude
as a function of time) into the sonification software and compare the ‘sounds’ of different
types of variable stars. Sonification thus applied to variable astronomical phenomena provides
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a powerful means of allowing blind students to ‘visualize’ concepts in astronomy that rely
heavily on visual data.
Preliminary results with a pilot group of Astro 1 students at an American university suggest
that with some refinement of the software, additional curriculum development, and training
for instructors, the Sounds of the CMB will be useful in teaching about the importance of the
Cosmic Microwave Background in our understanding of the origin and composition of the
universe. In the words of one professor who has tested it with two classes of Astro 1 students:
We teach lots of artists/musicians who totally understand harmonics, and the
sonification/visualization speaks to them. We are finding that students are
tuning out lectures and the earlier we get them working on the information and
visualizing the concepts, the better (Professor A.L., personal communication,
31.01.2012).
Plans for continued development and future research: The software currently runs under
Mac-OS 10.0 or higher (Snow Leopard and later versions), and runs clumsily on
Linux/ubuntu-64. Our goal for the coming year is to convert the code to HTML-5 for
maximum distribution via our website. In summer of 2013 we plan to hold workshops for
educators as part of the Cosmos in the Classroom symposium of the Astronomical Society of
the Pacific.
In Conclusion:
In 2013 the Planck Mission will release detailed maps of the CMB in nine frequency bands,
from microwave to near-infrared, as well as polarization maps of the CMB, and the best-
constrained power spectrum to date. When the new data become available, we will
incorporate them into both our simulations. Our simulations, publications, and curricula are
continually updated, and are available via the Planck main U.S. website,
http://planck.caltech.edu/epo. Future results of testing our simulations with students and
instructors will be presented in forthcoming publications.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a grant from the Planck Mission
and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The authors wish to thank the
Center for Visualization and Simulation at Purdue University Calumet where the Planck
Mission Simulation was developed, and Gerald Dekker, lead programmer. The authors wish
to thank Basak Alper and Wesley Smith of the AlloSphere Research Group at the University
of California Santa Barbara for their seminal roles in programming the Visualization and
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Sonification of the CMB. We also wish to thank Professor JoAnn Kuchera-Morin, AlloSphere
Director and Dr. Matthew Wright, AlloSphere Project Manager for their contributions to the
CMB simulation. We wish to also acknowledge Dr. Charles Lawrence, Chief Scientist for
Planck in the US, Professor Philip Lubin, of the University of California Santa Barbara, and
Dr. Graca Rocha of the Planck Mission for their contributions to the science content of the
simulations.
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